ORGANISERS of the Haslemere Festival 2009 outlined their vision for making the event an even bigger success, at a town council meeting last week. Hamish Donaldson and Don Stacey told members of the finance and general purposes committee they wanted the town council to take a more active role in preparing for the next festival. Mr Donaldson also told Haslemere town councillors the festival needed a "unique selling proposition" and said it would be "nice to develop something for which the town became really famous". He said festival organisers were keen for the town council to have a "greater input in this than previously shown" and suggested they could take over the running of an event, such as the launch of the festival. He also said he hoped town councillors would be able to recommend good speakers for the festival. Mr Donaldson went on to say the festival organisers wanted to get the benefit of the help, guidance and ideas offered by councillors "before we cast things too much in stone." He said: "There is a huge amount of talent in Haslemere and, as organisers, we want to showcase what the town has to offer, and bring in outside entertainment, so people spend money in the town and shops." He added, people living in places such as Farnham did not come to shop in Haslemere and they hoped to change that attitude. Early proposals for the 2009 festival include splitting events into evening concerts, weekend family events and weekday talks and walks at a variety of venues throughout the town. Organisers aim to provide a range of performances, which last year included professional singers such as Cleo Laine and the King's Singers, while also finding space for artists based in and around Haslemere, such as the Farnham Youth Choir. Mr Donaldson assured Haslemere town councillors the festival would continue to "try and promote the local people if we possibly can." Other event's held during the 17-day festival, in 2006, included a medieval pageant, rustic sports and a talk by South West Surrey MP Jeremy Hunt. The festival, first held in 2004 and then again last year, was supported by a wide range of organisations including Haslemere Performing Arts, Haslemere Thespians and many town businesses and shops. At last week's meeting the organisers also outlined the preliminary budget for the 2009 festival, which included expected contributions of £4,000 from 'Awards for All', a Lottery grants scheme for community projects, and a £1,000 grant from Haslemere Town Council. Festival organisers are also looking for several businesses to give a total of around £6,000 in "essential" sponsorship for the event and further contribution of £2,000 from smaller businesses. However, most of the festival will be funded through ticket sales, which make up 63 per cent of the income for the event outlined in the preliminary budget. Mr Donaldson added the organisers had not had any luck getting any funding from Waverley Borough Council and said this "had to change". Early ideas for themes which could be part of the next festival include a literary weekend, celebrating the 150th anniversary of the birth of Sherlock Holmes creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and the 200th anniversary of the birth of the famous poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson. As both writers lived near Haslemere, organisers told the meeting they felt this would give the weekend "quite a bit of substance". Other suggestions included inviting comedian Sacha Baron Cohen to the festival, to discuss the success of 'Borat', his fictional Kazakh journalist character. While Mr Donaldson admitted this was unlikely he told the meeting "if we do not ask, we will never know". He also admitted the festival had "not had much success with youth events in the past" but said this did not mean organisers had given up on ideas which would appeal to young people and added it was a case of "finding the key" to unlocking their interest. Mr Donaldson said the proposals would be finalised in December 2008, but they needed people to take responsibility for different aspects of the festival to ensure its future. One of the key positions would be an 'events stage manager', who would help acquire funding and create links with town businesses. Mr Donaldson added advertising for the festival in the town needed to be improved to make sure residents were aware of what was happening. He said: "What we are trying to do is achieve a legacy for the festival. This is not done with two people organising everything, it has to be the whole town. Starting with just a small amount of people can make a huge difference." Town councillor James Mackie described the festival as an "established success" and said, he was sure it would be even better in 2009. Mr Mackie went on to suggest the organisers could reproduce an image of the town charter within the information and guides for the festival, which organisers agreed was a good idea. He also said the 2009 festival could include the crowning of a 'Miss Haslemere'. Town councillor James Edwards asked if the festival could include more sporting events and Brian Howard suggested a display of visual arts using the "town as a canvas" and asking South West Trains for sponsorship. Town councillor Cyndy Lancaster said organisers had to make sure people knew when the festival was happening and involve schools in the event. Festival organisers thanked the councillors for their comments and said they would take them into consideration and continue to update the town council on preparations for the event. For more information on the Haslemere Festival visit http://www.haslemerefestival.org.uk">www.haslemerefestival.org.uk.
